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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. saw — the tool
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — to come from
  5. rush — hurry
  6. field — for sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. present — a gift
  10. present — the time now
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. field — a subject
  13. sharp — clever
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — to tease
  18. present — there
  19. kid — child
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. saw — the tool
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com